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iBook G4 V. Powerbook G4 12"

S

seattlemaclover

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 26, 2004
71
0
Seattle Washington USA
I am a college student and am need of a notebook computer for school. I don't know weather or not I should get a iBook G4 (which size?) or a 12" powerbook. Please help! I will be using this almost entirely for school, with some time for fun ;) Please respond ASAP!
 
What will you be doing with it?

The iBook is slower than the PowerBook in some things, mostly due to the larger L2 cache on the PowerBook, but if you're only going to be doing basic word processing, email, IM, etc. then you don't need the extra power the PowerBook offers.
 
iBook G4 (which size?)
Click to expand...

I'd recommend the 12" iBook over the 14 definitely. Size, weight, overall slickness. The 14 looks a little clunky. The 12" PB is another story, another level of slickness, but also another $$$ level. But with the 12"PB, you could add a cinema display down the road. If you are willing to go with the 12" screen on the PB, then eliminate the 14" iBook from contention.
 
Originally posted by seattlemaclover
If iBook, What model?
Click to expand...

12" 800MHz. If you don't need the Combo drive you can get it without for $949, but I suggest spending the extra $100 on a Combo drive. Also, get another 256MB or 512MB of RAM, but buy it from a third party to get the best deal.
 
Go with the 12" 800mhz iBook with the Combo drive. The 12" and 14" both have the same screen resolution, and (personally) I think the 12" screen is much sharper than the 14". I went from using a PC with a 19" screen to an iBook with a 12" screen, and I had absolutely no problems.
 
Awsome! Thanks!
Next question.
Is it worth the money to get MS Office (I really hate the idea of putting Microsoft programs on an apple). Is there somthing else with the same functionality and full compatibility ( I use powerpoint alot).
 
check with your school for prices and such on MS Office. I get it for free from my IT department. In that respect, it is very worth it. The cross platform abilities of Office stuff are essential for me in college. You can look at Apple's Keynote, I have never seen or used it, though.

BTW- I use an iBook with spanned displays... the built-in display and a 17" Sony LCD. You can do dual desktops with iBooks through a simple software hack.
 
Comparisons....

Originally posted by seattlemaclover
Is the 12" screen to small to work on? I am used to 17" desktops. Would the 14" be better. I am in front of the screen most of the day.
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Here is a review comparing 14" iBook versus 12" Power Book.

http://macspeedzone.com/html/reviews/machines/other/03/1ghz-pwbk-vs-1ghz-ibook.shtml

And yes, you should definitely get Office for Mac. Right now, no other program comes close to offering the same features and ease of use. As someone else mentioned, getting it through your school should result in huge savings, or even possibly for free.

Good luck.
 
on a limited budget? CDW.com has the G3 (not G4) iBook 800mhz for $700. a good deal if you dont need to run any altivec app'z, i.e. photoshop, video or audio editing.

the downside is it is a CD-ROM no writer... but i think its a great deal for a student.

also, check www.xbench.com "submitted benchmarks" to compare thousands of users' performance on different machines. the G3 800 scored as high as 60 and the G4 800 as high as 89. pretty close when you consider the G5's get into the 200's.
 
don;t go with G3

i had a 12 ibook g3 900 at 640mb ram and it still didn't out score my present 12 ibook g4 800 256mb ram.

the 900 g3 gets its use in games only, other than that it is small. check pass macworld mag and u'll see the lab test, i think i was 1-2 issues back.

the hack is super easy to use.

download the file,
click on it,
done

not like wintel, unzipped, blablabla, **** it froze, restart, noooo can't find the HD, reinstall ....etc... it never ends.

don't go for PB just for std dual display, unless u got the $ (something u don't for now's limited budget) the need for the extra 512mb, input audio, dvi, and 1,5$ of aluminium

maybe they will even pay u more for the ibook's plastic whahahahaha

at 640mb on a ibook g4 800 i think that it will be fast.

I that don;t have good uses, see better on the 12" than on my 1500$ 17" CRT with BNC connection

the 12" is very sharp and bright
 
I just bought a 12" iBook earlier this month. For what you will be doing, a 12" iBook is what you should get. The 12" and 14" have the same resolution; therefore, they have the same workspace. The 12" is just sharper, more portable, and you save some money. All of those made it an easy choice for me. I loaded the hack for spanning on my 17" flat panel and it works great. For the money the 12" iBook can't be beat.

You will get a 30 day trial of Office with the iBook. I think its worth the money to buy. Office 2004 will be out before June, so it you might want to wait for that. You can make up your own mind about Office during the trial.

I recommend getting the 512MB RAM from Crucial, which runs just under $100.
If you use a lot of iTunes and iPhotos you'll want to have a large hard drive. I used up 15GB just with the included software. Bluetooth is cheap and you should get it. I wish I did because there are some nice Bluetooth mice that I want. You never know what devices will come out in the future that you'll want Bluetooth for.

I have noticed some nice features for the PowerBook, but I didn't need them. If you are going to use the Apple Cinema Display, you'll want the DVI connection. The VGA adapter works fine with me since I use cheap monitors. The Superdive is quieter and if you need to burn DVD's, you'll have to go with the PowerBook.

So go get the 12" iBook, you won't regret it.

lasuther
 
looks like you'll be doing a lot of moving with your notebook. get the 12" model.
 
for the ibooks: get the 12 inch model the 14 inch models have same max resolution of 1024x768 as the 12 inch. You wont notice a speed increase between the 800 and 1ghz for what you plan to do with it. Its also durable and small and that counts for something as a college student!

for the powerbooks. I have the 12. I love it, but I am constantly wishing I had the larger one. I dunno.

For your situation I would get the 800 ibook. Look at it as getting a good computer now and saving a chunk of change for a pro line one down the road when you need it.
 
cmx08 said:
not like wintel, unzipped, blablabla, **** it froze, restart, noooo can't find the HD, reinstall ....etc... it never ends.
Click to expand...
oh please :rolleyes:. that is complete bs.

anyway, like everyone's said, get the iBook. Its not a bad machine and you can hack it to do dual display. And for Office, there are free alternatives out there...
 
appleworks

All iBooks and iMacs come with AppleWorks 6 preinstalled. It is a very handy word processor/spreadsheet/database. It has built in word/excel translators (though YMMV on success). It is a suitable alternative to office if money is an issue. The fact that it comes free with the iBook (but not powerbooks) is a good reason to give it a look =)
 
Funkatation said:
All iBooks and iMacs come with AppleWorks 6 preinstalled. It is a very handy word processor/spreadsheet/database. It has built in word/excel translators (though YMMV on success). It is a suitable alternative to office if money is an issue. The fact that it comes free with the iBook (but not powerbooks) is a good reason to give it a look =)
Click to expand...

yea, but you can always pick up a copy of appleworks on ebay for next to nothing. You could even just buy the application disk from someone from an imac, it wouldnt make a whit of difference.
 
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